The brother of former Coinbase Global Inc product manager Nikhil Wahi has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for a wire fraud conspiracy charge. This is the first insider trading case involving cryptocurrency.

Last year, Nikhil admitted to making trades based on confidential Coinbase information. His brother Ishan Wahi, the former product manager, shared confidential information with both Nikhil and their friend Sameer Ramani about new digital assets that Coinbase was planning to let users trade, said Federal prosecutors in Manhattan, according to Thomson Reuters.

Nikhil pleaded guilty in September. Whereas his brother Ishan pleaded not guilty and Ramani, who was also charged, is at large.

US District Judge Loretta Preska handed down the sentence after the US prosecutors and regulators ramped up their scrutiny of cryptocurrency companies and executives.

Nikhil Wahi is to be sentenced to 10 and 16 months in prison, since he earned nearly $900,000 in profits from the scheme, recommended prosecutors. 

However, Nikhil’s defense lawyers proposed that he be spared prison time, arguing he was motivated by his desire to repay his parents for funding his college education and that he had never been arrested before.

Before this, the founder of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, was charged with eight counts of fraud and conspiracy. It was over the collapse of the now-bankrupt exchange, which also happens to be Coinbase rival.

While the founder of FTX pleaded not guilty, two of his closest associates, Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

Currently, the crypto sector has been facing a major blow due to the plunge in the value of bitcoin and other digital assets. All these are the results of rising interest rates and economic downturns.

On Tuesday, Coinbase announced cutting nearly 1000 jobs in a third round of layoffs since last year.